makingwaves-184-509826 Reviews

The Hateful Eight (2015)

If you enjoy westerns, do yourself a favor - don't watch this movie.

[1/10 · 25 March 2016]

I'm a big fan of westerns. I've seen bad westerns and good westerns, comedies (Support Your Local Gunfighter) to dramas (3:10 to Yuma) to musicals (Paint Your Wagon) and everything in between...suffice to say I've seen my fair share of westerns over these many years.

I wish I could've counted this movie among them, but frankly, I don't really know HOW to classify it. It's definitely not a western, despite the stagecoach and the horses.

Let me elaborate.

Sheesh...where to begin? There was just so much wrong with this movie that it made you wonder if Tarantino started out making a parody, but changed his mind and made it a gore-fest pseudo-crime drama instead.

But hey, what do *I* know, eh? (Hint: probably the same as everyone who highlighted the enormous amount of anachronistic "goofs" under the "Goofs" heading...just sayin'...)

The plot progression was slow. Now this could be overlooked, if you are going for the spaghetti western style which, given the 1970s look to the title and the fact that even the score was done by Ennio Morricone, made me initially excited to see where it was going (even though I physically groaned as soon as I saw that it was a Tarantino film).

Still, hey! Kurt Russel, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh...it looked like it had promise!

And then the complete gratuitous overuse of the "N" word, just for shock value apparently? A few utterances, okay, but dozens? In nearly every scene? We get it...Jackson is black. Gee...who knew? Can we move on now?

No, because first we have to have Leigh get bloodied up to drive home the fact that she's one of the antagonists in the film. And bloodied up. And bloodied up. And...we get it. She's bad. Moving on...

So many scenes should have hit the editing floor and stayed there. No, no, I take that back...they should have hit the shred bin, never to ever be added back to any "director's cut" or anything of that caliber.

Case in point: the entire naked white guy being orally raped by the black guy scene...complete with very descriptive narrative...repeatedly...you know, just in case you didn't catch it the first time...

Next comes the massive amount of graphic gore that is completely unrealistic, doesn't advance the plot at all, and is added only for the sake that Tarantino likes juicy, gory splashes. I'm surprised he didn't go for making it 3-D. In a movie like Deadpool, it works. In this? Please...

I could go on and on and on, but I only have a 1,000 word maximum.

Seriously, it started out with the potential for being a great western...until about 20-30 minutes into the three hours when it became more than apparent that it was was just Tarantino being Tarantino again, using slang and other language that would never have been used in that era, with items that didn't even exist until the early 1900s, and turning people's heads into juicy sprays of liquid because of a single bullet (or two, as in the case of Señor Bob).

If you want to watch a western, don't watch this. If you want to watch a horrifyingly graphic gore-fest where people wear cowboy hats and say "Fu**" a lot and continuously use racial epithets toward one another (or if you're one of Tarantino's rabid cult followers who have been joyously giving this 10 stars and only doing so to counter honest reviews like mine), then go right ahead and "enjoy" this movie.

Or, you know, you could crush your toe with a hammer and laugh at the blood spray and scream the "N" word and the "F" word while looking at a picture of a horse in the snow...same results, really...it won't take nearly as long, and it'll probably hurt a lot less.

Daredevil (2015–2018)

Seriously, you don't like it? Have you even READ the comic???

[10/10 · 18 April 2015]

I've read the reviews from the people who hated it. Most have so seriously broken English in their reviews that I can't help but wonder if they've even read a single one of the (American) comics to begin with. No, this isn't a racist comment, merely an observant one.

Daredevil has always been about vigilante beat-downs. Matt doesn't really have any "superpowers" per se, other than heightened senses (except sight, obviously). What he relies upon is wit, skill, and training. He beats the **** out of the bad guys. It's what he does. It's what he as ALWAYS done, plain and simple.

I am thoroughly enjoying this series, and find that it is most definitely true to the original comic book rendition of my favorite childhood "superhero".

Now, some would say, "Aha! See? Childhood! This is just too juvenile and pedantic and amateurish to hold my interest." To these, I see that they have plainly stated that they only watched the first few episodes before they lost interest (yet they gleefully add a negative 1-star review). Now, I'll admit, it was a slow start for the first two or three, but it really picked up. Of course, then they say, "beat up the bad guys, wash, rinse, repeat"...what superhero movie or television show doesn't follow this? Seriously? The plot is very developed, but yes, it is dark. It is violent. It isn't for kids. If you want something all pristine and shiny, I suggest watching Superman: The Movie again.

Daredevil is about kicking the crap out of the bad guys and trying to make a violent city whole again. It always has been. It has never, NEVER, been anything BUT this.

If you can't appreciate this, you've not read the comics. Not a single one.

Into the Woods (2014)

Wonderful musical and great film adaptation!

[10/10 · 23 March 2015]

Okay, first of all, let me address the 1-star crowd. Yes, it's a musical. How could you not know that it was...this musical's been around for nearly THIRTY YEARS NOW! Ahem. Okay, yes, it has dark elements, including references to pedophilia. THIS WAS IN THE ORIGINAL MUSICAL! In fact, Disney toned it down severely! Horrible score? Tell that to Sondheim - he wrote the pieces (and won awards for them)...sigh. Some people just don't "get it".

This is the first film adaptation of "Into the Woods". Several others had been contemplated, worked out, even started casting for, but this is the only one that was ever completed...NOT because it was "horrible" "awful", or whatever, but because it was such a daunting task! I thought that this movie was a wonderful work of art that addresses a lot of life issues (after all, Sondheim is also a noted psychologist). Others were upset that it was a musical. Oh, boo-hoo. People are singing their lines. How un-Disney-like.

Okay, I will agree with one point: It is NOT your typical Disney fairy tale. Nope. Not at all. Instead, it's more true to the original Brothers Grimm stories...let me repeat that...true to the original Brothers Grimm...if you don't know what I'm speaking of, if you think Snow White was about dancing dwarfs and tweeting birds, then you really need to visit a library.

People are screaming up and down that this is most definitely NOT a family film. Um...hello? Do you even know what "PG" stands for? It means "Parental Guidance suggested"...this means that you, as a parent, should decide if it's right for your child to view. In other words, BE A PARENT! Sheesh...

Okay, enough of that.

"Into the Woods" is a musical. If you don't like musicals, don't watch it.

"Into the Woods" is a blending of different fairy tales from their original DARK, FOREBODING, DISTURBING perspectives. If you want butterflies and songbirds and happily-ever-after, go watch the earlier Disney greats.

"Into the Woods" is dark. It's creepy. It's disturbing...and it's great. You just need to be in the proper frame of mind. I knew what I was getting into, and I loved it. If you're expecting "heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's off to work we go", you aren't going to like it.

This movie isn't for everyone, true enough, but for those of us who "get it", it's WONDERFUL!